Beautiful Items: The Card Game Rapunzel
by UndercaringUnderpaidNarrator
Summary: When Mokuba was kidnapped by Pegasus, he was locked in a tower at Duelist Kingdom. That's the story everyone knows. What everyone doesn't know is that he wasn't alone in that tower. There was another girl cooped up, with her own hopes and loyalties. Beautiful Items Shortfic.


[ShortFic]/[On Track]/[Extra]

 _This ShortFic is related to the Yu-Gi-Oh Fanfic, **Beautiful Items** (OWD version) in a backstory/structural context. There are a few direct references made to Beautiful Items as well, (ex. "_ That other girl had made a big fuss about him" is referring to Amy, the main OC)

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh, that was written by Kazuki Takahashi. Then he went and wrote some more Yu-Gi-Oh. and drew some more stuff. Then Akira Ito went and did some Yu-Gi-Oh R spin off stuff and there's some references in here about that so yeah. That's a thing.

Narrator's Note: Essentially, this is a bonus ShortFic that ties in with chapters eighteen and nineteen, as they're the Mokuba duels/first Kaiba redemption mini arc. It takes place after Mokuba's kidnapping, before his escape from the tower. Hence the fact that it is on track. And an extra.

The purpose here is to introduce another new oc that is directly tied into Amy's meddling in the series. the few people out there who are familiar with Beautiful Items may have already figured some information out, some not. Over Beautiful Item's hiatus, there was a continuous struggle as to whether or not scrap this oc and idea. But, that's why BI is currently a OWD - original working draft. At this point it's a rough draft that will keep going, trying out ideas an concepts and seeing the results. This character another, "I think this is a good idea but we'll see how it goes", similar to Leo.

All and all this ShortFic is just an experiential idea in this stage.

 **ON A SIDE NOTE: For anyone familiar with BI already or who will familiar yourselves with it, there is a new pole on my profile regarding it to check out. (7/29/16)**

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She often felt like, up in that tower, a person out of a picture book. Specifically, she felt like, and sometimes imagined that she was Rapunzel. There were times when she would sit by the window, brushing her hair as if there was some camera taking a picture of her, or someone was waiting below to paint her. Both ready to use her image for the cover of a Rapunzel picture book. So as she brushed her hair, the female would pose while doing it, letting her long hair fall over her shoulder while she brushed down a single side.

Though, she wasn't exactly the spitting image of Rapunzel. For starters, she was very much aware that her hair was a deep and dull mud-like brown, rather than the brilliant gold in the fairy tale. It also wasn't so long that she could throw a bundle of her hair out the window, but her muted brown locks went down to her lower back, which she was satisfied with enough. She also had a thick, glittering pair of glasses, bedazzled along the arms in an energetic pattern.

While she had been lacking in many Rapunzel-ecu qualities, there was one thing that Rapunzel lacked that she had. It was Duel Monsters, the most beautiful and intriguing card game in the world. Considering her family, it wasn't surprising that Duel Monsters had a special place in her heart.

These differences aside, she the metaphorical picture of the real life princess.

Although, the day her prince walked into her life was a little different than in the story. Sure, she was doing her part, sitting by the window, combing her hair, looking out to the island below. But her prince didn't call up to her from the ground or climb for a romantic rendezvous. In fact he didn't even walk into her life, he was more or less thrown in.

That morning, the girl was surprised to hear the door unlock. It wasn't lunch time, seeing as the morning was only half over. And Master Pegasus had been so busy lately planning the tournament, he hadn't stopped to visit her, nor did she expect any visits in the near future. It couldn't have been her cousin – who was technically her brother now, though she had such a hard time fitting him in that role – or one of her other related by adoption siblings. And she didn't think she was supposed to have an in house doctor visit until the next week. So the girl, looked immediately as the door started to swing open.

And in came her prince, she barely caught the outline of Croquet and Kemo as they quickly shoved the boy in so he landed on his knees and they slammed the door behind them. In a short blink her prince recovered, stood on his feet, swooped around to face the door, and pounded his fists on the metal again and again. "You can't do this! Wait till my big brother finds out about this you creep! You'll be sorry!"

The girl heard Kemo's snark through the metal. "Yeah right. Seto Kaiba's a broken (dead) man. He's got nothing on Master Pegasus now."

"You take that back! My brother is still the president of Kaiba Corp., no matter what you creeps do."

Kemo only laughed, while the kid repeated this phrase a few more times. And eventually, the banging slowed down and stopped all together, as if the kid lost the will to argue. Instead he just faced the door in silence. Until, that is, the girl decided to speak up, "He won't change his mind no matter what you say." the girl's paled, cracked lips had smiled at that, "Kemo isn't exactly and agreeable person. Everyone he meets agrees he's kind of nasty."

Her black haired prince seemed to drift off in thought while he replayed. "I'll say..."

She started to silently count the seconds until his proper reaction. One, two, three, four... "Did those goons lock you in here too?" her raven haired prince turned his upper body around.

How boring. She had hoped for some sort of wild turn around, a surprising screech, anything more animated. A jump scare reaction to kick off her day. "Something like that." She frowned but patted the seat next her eagerly, an open invitation to continue the conversation.

That was one more difference that she had between her and Rapunzel: the level of tolerance. Both girls were depicted as being excitedly bored, but when it came to the prince in the story Rapunzel seemed to take him with all his faults. This brown haired girl, four eyed, female couldn't relate. She couldn't stand boring men.

"Those guys are the worst." When he sat, the kid put his knees up and rested his chin on them. Long black hair, wide eyes, and something like five feet tall with his frizzy hair, this boy had to be somewhere between ten and thirteen years old. "So your brother is the president of Kaiba Corp.?" That was a question that made her eyebrow raise. Highly unlikely it was true, but Kemo didn't deny the claim when they were arguing.

Cheeks rested against his jeans, the kid nodded, "That's right, Seto Kaiba is my big brother and he'll definitely come rescue me soon."

Ugh, how dull. He only just got here and he was already looking for someone to save him. Pausing, the girl mulled over the fact that he was just a kid, and decided to let it slide. In fact in prompted the sudden impulse to ruffle his mass of black hair, so she did. "You don't sound like you really believe that." Was she... actually sympathizing with him? Weird.

The young Kaiba looked up at her with a pained expression, his eyes wavering. No matter how loyal he wanted to be, a part of what she said was true, and he couldn't help but say, "Ever since Yugi defeated him, Seto's been acting weird. And now he's completely disappeared."

"Sounds rough little Kaiba." she started to comb through her hair with her fingers. Of course she knew who Yugi Muto was. That other girl had made a big fuss about him, and then Master Pegasus did too. And for christ's sake, she lived in a tower not under a rock. "What exactly should I call you?"

"Mokuba."

Mokuba Kaiba, that was the name on her prince. He seemed so distressed. It wasn't exactly the picture of a knight in shining armor. Only a few minutes had gone by and her chest was already tightening, looking down at his worried face, he looked like he need a knight more than she did. "Sounds rough little Mokuba." the girl reworded herself gently.

"Since he left things have only gotten worse." Oh, there was more? The female suddenly was morally torn. She was actually feeling bad, which by itself was incredibly bizarre, but it inclined her not to pry into unwonted details. On the other hand was spanning out to be a potentially juicy story, and it would be such a waste not to hear it. Regardless which shoulder angel, or shoulder devil, she identified with, prying happened.

She reached a few inches and felt for her hair brush. "Brothers are tough. Especially when they're going through an early mid-life crisis." The room went stale, Mokuba averted his eyes to the side, honing in on the suddenly interesting floor. "That serious huh?"

"My brother's always been there for me, no matter what happened to us. We've always stuck together. Then Yugi came around and ruined everything." Ruined everything – that was a phrase that rang through her ears, made her face wince. "I know he'll come back, Seto won't let Pegasus take over his company."

Her brushing slowed down, weaving in and out of the strands carefully. "What's Master Pegasus doing?" Her eye arched, thought back to any expansion plans, and for the life of her she couldn't recall any mergers with Kaiba Corporation.

"That jerk has been trying to take over Kaiba Corp. while my brother's been gone! Seto left, so Pegasus just thought he could move in. Like I'd let him!"

She didn't need to ask much further, most of the picture was painted at this point. But there was one part of it that she couldn't let go. A fiery spark lite in her eyes, and before she knew it she had stopping brushing and crossed her arms. "It's for a good reason."

Once Mokuba heard her, like actually heard and processed what she meant, he put some distance between them. Thrown off his guard, Mokuba instantly jumped away, turning to face her, tense and like he was ready for a fight. "As if!" If she wasn't so annoyed, it would be pretty cute to see his panic as he realized he was fraternizing with the enemy.

Her gazed mowed him down just as defensively, hanging heavy in the air. She adjusted her glasses and huffed, "Master Pegasus is a good and fair business man. And I² is a good and fair business. He's just going through a hard time right now, and your company got caught in the crossfire."

"Yeah right, there's nothing fair about kidnapping me to get to Seto!" his little prepubescent voice arose and hit her from all sides of the room.

"You're. Collateral. Damage." she enunciated each word carefully, "Which sinks I know, but you just got to deal with it. This is something he has to do." She stood up now, towering over the boy. Her eyes flickered, tension streamed from them like she control gravity from her gaze.

Mokuba was trying to stand tall under that gaze, but it was starting to make his shoulder sag. Still, he was the Kaiba in charge, there was no backing down. It seemed like, in this moment it was Mokuba's turn to confront Pegasus in an indirect way. Like this was his battle to fight for the company. "The only reason Pegasus has is because he's cooperate scum."

"He's doing it to save my mom!"

Something snapped in Mokuba's mind, and his fists lowered a little. There was a slight strain in his face. The way he paled when the word "mom" clicked off her tongue was an instant red light. Finally having Mokuba on the defensive, the girl took this chance to go for an upfront attack. "I don't know what he's thinking, but I know Mater Pegasus is doing everything he can to bring her back. Then we can all be a family for real."

She was surprised when Mokuba's back slid with a slump. His next words were hesitant, almost making the girl regret her brutal attack. "Did she...die?" There was a long pause in between the words, and she got the sense that Mokuba struggled to finish it. At the same time, she couldn't believe he was even asking, as she pretty much all but stated that fact already.

It was a confirmation that Mokuba needed to hear out loud. So he waited anxiously for the answer.

"A long time ago."

"What was she like?" The conversation had completely derailed at this point. It seemed like he was becoming fixated on this one subject. Mokuba even sat back down.

Her hand started to move again as the brush once again ran through the unruly tangles in Mokuba's hair. "I don't know. I never actually met her. She wasn't my real mom, just Pegasus's lover. By the time Pegasus adopted my cousin and I she had already passed away. But I've seen portraits of her Mokuba, and she's beautiful. She could have been a real life princess."

"You know Seto and I were adopted too. He's my only family. That's why I've got to protect Kaiba Corp. no matter what." Mokuba's voice sounded small now, distant. There was hurt and hesitation where fury once lived.

"Well, Pegasus is my only chance to have a real, full family." the girl stopped at a matted knot directly in the back of his head. She mulled over the question of how long it's been since he had brushed his own hair. Subsequently, how long Master Pegasus had him in custody.

A wordless aura formed in the tower room, thick upon the the air. Only the one/two rip of her trying to get through the knot could be heard. Not a bird outside or even the scuff of Mokuba's shoe knew how to break the ice. Both campaigners felt loyalty to their cause, yet knew the other wouldn't budge an inch. There was nothing else to say that could change any of that.

Yet, in that silence, there was a connection forming between the two. A feeling that didn't need to be said. Rather than a wall, a bridge was being built. Though she felt loyalty to Pegasus she felt something for Mokuba. Perhaps it was that sympathy rearing it's ugly head again. Or maybe it was because she knew that Pegasus was indeed in the moral wrong, no matter how good his goals were. It could have been because Mokuba was admittedly a cute kid. Maybe it was just because she was bored and found a new source of interest.

Eventually, the girl leaned into Mokuba's peripherals, making him turn slightly. There was a smile on her face now, not a happy one, but rather her lips curled with mischief and interest. "You know, there's something spicy about fraternizing with the enemy." Her eyes glinted with interest. "So little Kaiba, got any escapes planned in the near future?"

Mokuba finally grinned back. A smile that had been long over due. "You bet I do."

"You know I might have a few ideas of my own."

And thus began the moment that Mokuba Kaiba and Amelia Merced began plotting his daring escape.


End file.
